Marie Joseph Butler

Mother Marie Joseph "Johanna" Butler (22 July 1860 – 23 April 1940) was an Irish nun, mother general of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, and founder of Marymount colleges and schools.[1][2][3]

Marie Joseph Johanna Butler
Personal
Born22 July 1860
Ballynunry, County Kilkenny
Died23 April 1940(1940-04-23) (aged 79)
Tarrytown, New York
ReligionChristian
NationalityIrish
OrderReligious of the Sacred Heart of Mary

Biography

Johanna Butler was born in Ballynunry, County Kilkenny on 22 July 1860. She was the seventh child of John Butler, gentleman farmer, and Ellen (née Forrestal).[2] She attended the Sisters of Mercy school in New Ross, County Wexford, entering the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Mary in Béziers, France in 1876. She took the name Marie Joseph when she was sent to Porto, Portugal in 1879, professing in 1880. From 1880 to 1903 she taught in Porto and Braga, becoming superior of the school in 1893.[1][4]

In 1903 she was appointed head of the congregation's school at Sag Harbor, Long Island, New York, with the responsibility to extend the influence of the order in there. Her cousin, James Butler, gave her a site in Tarrytown, New York in 1907 where she founded the first Marymount school that year, and then the first Marymount college in 1918. She acted as president of the college, with the institution being granted a charter from the University of the State of New York to award bachelor's degrees in 1924. Butler was elected mother general of her order in 1926 serving until her death, being the first American superior elected to the international congregation of the catholic church. She introduced a unique educational system incorporating high religious and academic standards with the aim of preparing young women for a changing society.[1][4] She became a citizen of the United States in 1927.[5]

Under her influence, the order founded 14 schools, including a novitiate in New York, three Marymount schools and three colleges, and 23 foundations internationally with Marymount schools in Rome, Paris, and Quebec, and a novitiate in Ferrybank, Waterford, Ireland. Butler died on 23 April 1940 in Tarrytown and was buried there. In 1954 her spiritual writing were published as As an eagle: the spiritual writings of Mother Butler R.S.H.M. by J.K. Leahy. She was put forward as a candidate for canonisation in 1948.[1][4]

References
  1. Andrews, Helen (2009). "Butler, Marie Joseph (Johanna)". In McGuire, James; Quinn, James (eds.). Dictionary of Irish Biography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  2. Benowitz, June Melby (2017). Encyclopedia of American women and religion (Second ed.). Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. pp. 83–84. ISBN 9781440839870.
  3. Mahoney, Kathleen A. (2000). "Butler, Mother Marie Joseph (1860-1940), Roman Catholic nun and founder of schools and colleges | American National Biography". www.anb.org. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0900874. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  4. "Mother Marie Joseph Butler - Irish Roman Catholic nun". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  5. Hill Lindley, Susan; Stebner, Eleanor J., eds. (2008). The Westminster handbook to women in American religious history (1st ed.). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press. p. 29. ISBN 9780664224547.
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